YUM YUM overload

I spent Sunday doing laundry at my parent’s house in exchange for being their personal bartender. I have the title of making the best mojitos anyone has ever had (no one had ever had them before) but I totally ruined that reputation on Sunday. Not sure where I went wrong…

Anyway, on Sunday evening I made a thai inspired meal for the hubbub and myself. I mixed a can of light coconut milk with Thai Kitchen red curry paste, added veggies and Trader Joe’s beefless strips and served it over brown jasmine rice.

The curry was a little milder than I would have liked, but overall this was great. Next time I would replace the beefless strips with tofu to introduce some more texture into the dish.

My mom gave me some fresh ginger while I was over on Sunday, and I decided to make Ginger Muffins from The Joy of Vegan Baking. These came out awesome- really refreshing and a great way to start off the morning!

I started off Monday morning with a banana, papaya, blueberry, lettuce and green tea smoothie. It was the first time I added cold tea to a smoothie and although I went overboard, I could tell that in moderate amounts it will be a nice addition.

My new love is carrot spaghetti!!!! I saw this recipe on Vegweb I had to try it. I actually don’t like carrots that much, but this intrigued me. You peel the carrots, sauté them in olive oil, add onion and garlic, and salt and pepper and let cook.

The recipe said to add marinara sauce and enjoy, but I was worried about straight up carrots, so I mixed in some pasta. Next time I am going to do all carrots.

Have a good rest of the week!

Saturday Brunch

Our friend Natalie came over for brunch this morning. I made a casserole last night and baked it in the morning. It had whole wheat bread, tempeh bacon, tofu, potato flakes, and vegan cheese. I got the recipe off someone's blog but now I can't remember who's! This was an indulgent treat after my boot camp class. I served it up with a raw kale and tomato salad and coffee.Yay for veganizing recipes!

A Lunch and Dinner

Hello! TGIF to the max. I am running on 4 hours of sleep and 400 pounds of stress! Damn my type A personality. Anyway, on to the food! For lunch one day I had an organic apple (nothing beats a freaking organic apple. pure and fresh) and a sunshine burger in a pita with lettuce and hummus. woohoo!A few nights ago I veganized a recipe I found on the interwebs. It was something like bisquick, milk, parmasean cheese (I subbed in nutritional yeast), a ton of veggies and maybe something else. This was TOTAL bollocks. It never really firmed up. It was an ooey, gooey, messy pile of nasty. Epi-nasty.

I'm looking forward to actually getting some sleep tonight and to an enjoyable Saturday and Sunday. I hope to have some better recipes from this weekend to post!

Vegans Beware!

Since I had Monday off for MLK Day, I visited my sister (who attends school in Peoria) on Sunday-Monday. I got to experience her janky apartment for the first time and reminisce about my janky college apartments.

We went to One World Cafe on Sunday for dinner. We had hummus for an appetizer. The hummus was good but whoever poured the oil on top had quite the heavy hand.

For my entree I had the falafel pita and vegetarian fries. The falafel itself was very good though eating it was a bit difficult. The fries weren't anything special.

A personal pet peeve is that they offer soy cheese for their pizza, but it contains casein. What is the point of a soy cheese if it still has milk in it!!?

On Monday we saw Leap Year, which was a total piece of shit. We also went to a small natural foods store and Mediterranean store and I picked up a few goodies. This picture was at a butcher store near the natural foods store.

Vita-mix contest link

Check out this blog to win a Vita-mix! (the world's greatest blender!!)

Good luck!!

Long, Cold Week

I've had a very busy week at work and completely forgot about posting! Here are some drool-worthy pics for your enjoyment:

Last Sunday I met my friend Natalie at Pizza Fusion in Naperville. They serve vegan pizzas with Follow Your Heart Cheese (I am pretty sure this is the cheese they use). We ordered a "Very Vegan" pizza that had roasted garlic and mushroms and a "Farmers Market" with assorted veggies (pictured). The pizza is pretty good, but it is a bit pricey and I feel that I can make just as good pizza at home.



One morning this week my hubbub made blueberry pancakes. Yum!



This is Maple-Mustard Potatoes and String Beans from Vegan with a Vengeance. They came out really delicious. I will be making this again for sure.



Tomorrow I am going to visit my sister and we are planning on making a day trip to Springfield on Monday (I am off work for Martin Luther King Jr. Day). I've never been to Springfield and I'm looking forward to checking out the Lincoln museum!

Weekend Roundup

The weekend, as usual, went by too fast! I started a boot camp fitness class on Saturday and I’m so sore I can barely walk. It feels good to start exercising again.
Earlier this week I made Curried Cauliflower and Kale from macheesmo.com .This came out really yummy. I will definitely be making it again.



On Saturday night I put together a taco fiesta for the hubbub and myself. Yum! We had Fantastic Foods Taco filling, black beans with garlic, Tofutti sour cream, garlic salsa, homemade guacamole, lettuce, tomato and onion. The only disappointment was the brown rice tortillas I had bought. They broke when we tried rolling them. Tortilla chips to the rescue!



After dinner I really wanted dessert, so I made a half batch of chocolate chip cookies (recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance). Delicious, as always.
This afternoon I am meeting my friend for window shopping and lunch at Pizza Fusion. I’ll post the pizza review tomorrow.





P.S. The husband starts nursing school tomorrow! Good luck!!